Hey, I'm Merve Koók

Senior Product Designer who brings clarity to complex, high-stakes B2B products — the kind where getting the design wrong doesn't just frustrate users, it creates real operational risk.

Over the past 7+ years, I've designed data-heavy dashboards and AI-integrated tools for enterprise SaaS, fintech, and healthcare teams, turning tangled, high-stakes workflows into systems people can actually trust. I'm at my best where strategy meets empathy: leading discovery, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, and connecting research and design systems into products that hold up under real pressure.

Originally from Turkey, now based in Budapest. Open to remote collaborations on meaningful, high-stakes problems worth solving.

Remote | Worldwide

01 what I focus on

Data-heavy dashboards

Turning dense, high-stakes data into something people can act on with confidence

AI-Integrated B2B Products

Designing AI features that earn trust, not just novelty

Enterprise Internal Tooling

Building the tools operations teams rely on every day

Complex Stakeholder Environments

Leading discovery and alignment when requirements aren't handed to you clean

02 Flagship case studies

01 - Single Source of Truth Redesigning Financial Reporting for a High-Stakes Actuary Team

An enterprise healthcare-adjacent client’s actuary team was managing complex financial adjustments through direct, unaudited database edits — a process with real risk to downstream client reporting.

My role: Lead Product Designer, discovery through delivery

What I can share:

Mapped two parallel high-friction workflows end-to-end
Designed a mandatory review step that made every financial adjustment visible and reversible before it was applied
Preserved the team’s existing Excel-based habits rather than forcing a disruptive migration

Directional impact: Eliminated all direct production-database edits and introduced full audit-trail coverage across a large multi-client portfolio.

Full case study, including research process and measurable outcomes, shared in interviews.

02 - Authorization, Rebuilth Designing a Cross-Platform Verification Flow Under Pressure

A healthcare member services platform needed a clearer, more transparent authorization experience across desktop, responsive, and native mobile — replacing an opaque process that left members confused about status, next steps, and what they needed to do.

My role: Product Designer (contractor), owning the experience end-to-end across three platform contexts, while holding design system integrity through a significant internal stakeholder conflict on the client side.

What I can share:

Designed a unified authorization experience across desktop, responsive, and native mobile — one system, three platform-appropriate executions
Navigated conflicting, high-pressure direction from two client-side stakeholders by iterating toward real user needs rather than picking a side, and escalating when a directive had no design rationale
Made a deliberate, documented compromise on persistent educational content — balancing a client capability gap against design’s autonomy concerns, without abandoning either

Directional impact: Delivered a coherent, dev-ready authorization experience across three platforms, preserving design system integrity through a project where internal misalignment had put both timeline and quality at risk.

Full case study, including the stakeholder navigation process and design decisions, shared in interviews.

03 - Mentor OS The Operating System for Solo Mentors

Solo mentors and coaches lose hours prepping for every new mentee — reading intake forms, writing briefs, designing challenges — before a single session happens.

I’m building Mentor OS to automate that setup, so mentors walk into session one already knowing their mentee, and keep progress, feedback, and open questions tracked automatically between sessions — instead of re-explaining everything each time.

Case study coming soon.

more work

Document Management, Rebuilt

Digitized a paper-heavy process for an international investment bank, untangling complex data-matching workflows from scratch.

Copilot AI Framework

Early exploration into a context-aware AI assistant layer for enterprise agents. (Genesys)

NFT Analytics Platform, 0 to 1

Led product and system design for an analytics dashboard, reaching 1,200+ active users within 3 months of launch. (CyberBox)

Converting Visitors into Buyers

Full process walkthrough: redesigned an AI shopping assistant widget and dashboard, from research to shipped result. (UPSY)

04 impact highlights

- Top 1% Mentor on ADPList, 100+ 1:1 sessions completed

- Founded the Budapest UX Meetup, running in-person workshops and monthly meetups since 2024

- 2x All-Star Award winner at Genesys for design delivery and team collaboration

- Led UX for an award-winning SaaS voice product at Telesmart (Best Voice/UCaaS Service Innovation, Global Carrier Awards 2021)

05 testimonials

Working with Merve has been such a great experience. She brings so much passion, creativity, and initiative to everything she does — but what really stands out to me is how reliable she is. As a manager, having someone you can always count on makes all the difference, and Merve is that person. She’s the kind of teammate who doesn’t just get things done — she goes above and beyond, supports others, and brings a real sense of partnership to the table. Any design team would be lucky to have her. I can’t recommend Merve enough — she’s an absolute star.

Rick Rocha

DIrect UX Manager | Genesys

Merve was a designer on one of my teams, and I would hire her again in a heartbeat. She was a cornerstone of the team. Merve sponsored team events, helped colleagues without being asked, and made a huge difference in our day-to-day team culture. I particularly appreciated her combination of hustle and polish; she wants to grow and learn, and she’s incredibly thorough with a high-degree of attention to detail. Merve’s projects are organized and easy to review even when juggling multiple pieces of work. She doesn’t just start things—she finishes them with quality and consistency.

I’m located in the United States while the entire team was based in Europe, and it was so nice to wake up every morning and see an active team chat, and Merve was a big part of that. She was active in our channels, quick to celebrate wins, planned team bonding activities, and just kept the conversation going. I would highly recommend her in any distributed environment. Her ability to foster genuine connection was a real differentiator. Any team would be lucky to have Merve!

Shiyuan Deng

Design Director | Genesys

Merve Koók is a pleasure to work with and she has good experience in UX and Web design solutions. She is an organized and customer-oriented perfectionist, has no problem working hard when necessary. Result-driven, experienced and efficient designer. Deliver results and move on. That's Merve Koók's way. I certainly would recommend her as a UX designer. 

Bulut Gok

Product Manager @Telesmart

I had an outstanding experience with my mentor, who excels in communication, motivation, and subject knowledge. She creates a comfortable environment for asking questions and provides clear, direct guidance, which helps me a lot. Her understanding of abroad work styles and the full design work cycle is valuable. I trust her vision and beliefs around work culture, and I wholeheartedly recommend booking a session with her.

Aysenur Oren

ADPList | Mentee

She is very kind and experienced in her field. She gives constructive feedback on my projects and helps me learn more about UX and plan my career path. We work step by step and focus carefully on every detail. She also answers my questions clearly. She is a great person, and I’m happy to learn from her.

Buse Arican

ADPList | Mentee

The session with Merve was extremely efficient and highly valuable. She shared her professional experience with me and gave great advice on how I can guide my career. Her approach was fully personalized – she listened carefully to my needs and current situation, which allowed her to offer thoughtful and practical advice. She is a mentor who truly wants to support and help young designers in their development.

Karolina Daniluk

ADPList | Mentee

Merve worked on my team while at Genesys and I was always impressed by her level of engagement with her peers, and with her work. She contributed significantly to UX meetings in the office, acting as a leader to gather community and to drive continued excellence in UX craft. She thrived while performing quick explorations in different product areas, unafraid to learn new techniques or to meet with new partners. She is a curious, positive person and I wish her success in her next role!

John Pettengill

Design Director | Genesys

It was a pleasure working with Merve. She is an energetic and proactive professional, always bringing great ideas to the team and willing to help whenever needed. She stands out technically, demonstrating exceptional attention to detail and a strong commitment to delivering high-quality results. We had the opportunity to collaborate on several projects, and her contributions were always outstanding. Even today, whenever I come across something she worked on, I know I can rely on the quality and thoroughness of her work.

Bruna Schmitz

Senior Product Designer | Genesys

Worked together with Merve on an NFT analytical software, built it up together from scratch. Merve has a special talent to design complete softwares beautifully, and one of my favorite things about her is the responsiveness and work ethic. Whatever part of the day it was, she was available, if something urgent came up, she was there and saved the day!

Robert Csala

Co-Founder of CyberBox

Merve is an absolute treasure, hard worker and one of the most reliable desingers I've worked with ever. You're lucky to get her attention as an employer and have her contribute in your team.

Adam Sal

CyberBox

Merve has been great to work with. She picks up on new things fast and is very patient when collaborating on product designs. In a startup environment where agility is key, Merve fits right in.

Peeter-Erik Kiis

Product Manager @UPSY

All my sessions with my mentor are very productive and enjoyable. By benefiting from her professional experience, I'm learning how to deal with the challenges I face in my career. The feedback I receive on my projects helps me gain deeper insights into UX. Most importantly, I feel motivated after each session. You're a great mentor! Thank you so much.

Naciye Okcu

ADPList | Mentee

I was very happy to talk with Merve. She was very helpful and gave useful advice! I have a lot of inspiration and ideas in my head after our meeting! Lot of things became more understandable!

Kate Soldatova

ADPList | Mentee

06 education & experience

experience

Senior Product Designer, Zenitech · Oct 2025 - Present

Hybrid, Budapest
Enterprise UX across finance and healthcare — internal tooling, dashboards, and AI-integrated products.

Senior Product Designer, Genesys · Jul 2023 - Oct 2025

Hybrid, Budapest
2x All-Star Award winner.

Product Designer, UPSY · Mar 2022 - May 2023

Remote

Product Designer, CyberBox · Jan 2022 - Dec 2022

Remote

Product Designer, Telesmart · Jan 2021 - Mar 2021

Remote

Product Designer, SmartTelco IT House · Jan 2020 - Sep 2022

Remote

education

Marketing and Commerce

Budapest University of Economics and Business
2020-2023
- Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Holder

Thesis: In depth analysis on the relationship between customer satisfaction and mobile application UX design for market-leading grocery stores in Hungary

Faculty of Science, Mathematics

Akdeniz University 
2010-2016
- Pedagogic Formation Higher Education

Mentor, ADPList
Remote | Mar 2024 - Present
- 100+ individual session completed
- Top 1% Mentor Recognition

Languages: English: C1 | Turkish: C2 | Hungarian: A2

07 mentorship

I also mentor emerging designers

I'm a Top 1% mentor on ADPList with 100+ sessions completed, and I run UX Quest, a structured, paid mentorship program for junior and mid-level UX designers covering career growth, portfolio development, and design craft.

I also founded the Budapest UX Meetup, bringing the local design community together in person since 2024.

let's connect

Curious to collaborate?

I’m always open to thoughtful conversations and meaningful projects. Let’s explore what we can build together.